So remember when Lady Gaga released "Born This Way" and Madonna was like, I will rip my increasingly terrifying-looking sinews from my own body and strangle you for ripping off "Express Yourself"? Well, actually what she said was, "What a wonderful way to redo my song. I mean, I recognized the chord changes. I thought it was ... interesting," followed by "When I heard it on the radio, I said 'that sounds very familiar'. It feels reductive," but I know a sinew-threat when I hear one.
Madonna doesn't seem to have a solid grip on her British accent, but she can obviously hold a hell of a grudge. She recently took another swipe at Gaga by performing a mash-up of "Born This Way" and "Express Yourself" during rehearsal before switching to the song "She's Not Me." (Subtle, Madge. Kind of like your plastic surgery.)
Well, Gaga's been pretty quiet on the Madonna feud front until now, but she finally hit back -- and while she didn't call Madonna out by name, her response was PRICELESS.
More from The Stir: Madonna's Lady Gaga Bashing Just Makes Her Look Desperate
During a concert last week in Auckland, New Zealand, Gaga took a break between songs to share a few choice thoughts on what she's learned about negativity:
It sometimes makes people feel better about themselves [to], you know, put other people down or make fun of them or maybe make mockery of their work. And that doesn't make me feel good at all, that just makes me feel like I'm not being a good human being ... I feel like if you're a really good human being, you can try to find something beautiful in every single person, no matter what. (...) I don't even want to fight back, because it's more important to me to keep writing music.
Check her out in this video:
Now, based on those statements alone, there's no reason to necessarily assume she was talking about Madonna's sniping. But here's what she went on to say:
Things are really different than they were 25 years ago and that's what makes 'Born This Way' so relevant for me. (...) We're just socially in a different place and it's OK—we don't have to all slice and hate each other anymore.
Yeah, I'm thinking that's pretty specific, since "Express Yourself" came out in 1988.
Personally, I think Madonna needs to hang up her cone bra, concede that she had her time in the sun, and realize that it's okay for a new, younger star to use similar musical and fashion tactics in her bid for fame. I was a big Madonna fan back in the day, and I'm sure if I were younger I'd love Lady Gaga now. Things move on, and Madonna can't stake her claim on a certain chord progression or high ponytail hairstyle forever.
Really, I think everyone would respect Madonna a lot more if she kept quiet, continued putting out her own music, and quit flashing her tits -- as it is, she just comes across as a bitter, aging star who refuses to relinquish the throne that exists in her head.
What do you think about Lady Gaga's comments? Do you think she was talking, at least in part, about Madonna?
Image via Flickr/evarinaldiphotography
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Comments 18
It's ironic that Madonna fails to remember that Express Yourself was a hit for her courtesy of the Staple Singers whom she ripped off (I mean sampled).
"Really, I think everyone would respect Madonna a lot more if she kept quiet, continued putting out her own music, and quit flashing her tits" I still think she's always been overrated, but true, she's too old to keep on with the skimpy outfits, she strikes me as the kind to keep doing it even 10 yrs. from now.
I love how you refer to Madona as a "bitter, aging star who refuses to relinquish the throne that exists in her head." That's the way I see it.
I don't think the song even sounds like a rip off. There are certain parts of the song that sound SLIGHTLY similar, but for crying out loud, how many songs have been written throughout history now? Some of them have to sounds a little similar.
lol what really makes Madonna look bad is how absolutely thrilled Lady GaGa is to hear a fan performing her music well. Instead of hearing a similarity and saying to herself "wow, I've influenced an extremely talented young woman, I must have made a great impact in the music world." She just gets snarky.
Gaga should feel bad for stealing music! There is a HUGE difference between bullying and calling out a theif. Madonna may not have flashed her breasts if Gaga didn't lash her new genital piercing and what's with the f-ing machine gun gaga? Talk about hiprocracy!
No female star since Madonna has had the cult popularity that Lady Gaga has.... It does just come across like Madonna is jealous and battling vanity as she ages. She is in GREAT shape for her age and has so much to be proud of.... You would think that she could be happy for Gaga and realize she inspired a new generation of young artists... and come on... she has kids now.... can she not flash her boob to the whole crowd.... just seems tacky.